A Graceful Touch
by MagicalMemories
Summary: 3x15AU 'He feels compelled to stay with her,to wait for her tears to come'.Esther's plan is halfway through and the Salvatore brothers and Bonnie have to quickly fix the mess to save lives while Elijah decides to remain in Mystic Falls.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I couldn't stop this idea from developing over the past few weeks. I was trying not to think too far into it but I just couldn't help it. And now I have to type it all out. This is definitely an Elena and Elijah fic. I love the chemistry between them and I really wanted to experiment with it. What would have happened if Elijah and Elena had talked it out a bit more? **

**Disclaimer: Most or all the lines/quotations are taken straight from the episode "All My Children" 3x15 of The Vampire Diaries for a lot of this chapter - mainly the first scene between Elena and Elijah. Plus, I obviously don't own this TV show/book series. **

_Prologue_:

1:58 p.m.

"I admire you, Elena. You remind me of qualities I valued long before my mother turned us." Something changed in his voice and Elena realised that she probably should have thought twice before immediately agreeing to go with him. But, she reasoned, she had felt that Elijah was someone who she could trust.

"It's not in your nature to be deceitful and yet," he still stood facing away from her but now he pointed in her direction, "when I asked you about your meeting with my mother the other night, you lied to my face."

Elijah turned his head to look at her, just as she cast her eyes downwards and inhaled deeply. She was caught red handed. And by a vampire, no less. But she'd at least give a try at lying again.

"It's not true." She tried to calm herself, trying to steady her voice. Elijah simply looked amused in his simple way of expression. " I told you that all your mother wanted was a new star-" and before she could finish he interrupted her, putting her charade to a stop.

"I can hear your heartbeat… It jumps when you're being dishonest with me." She hadn't been able to easily read his face before but now he looked menacing - the way she remembered him being when they had first officially met. "You lied to me at the ball, you are lying to me now." There was a chilling note in his voice and Elena was almost afraid to guess what he was going to do to her. Surely, she thought, he wouldn't _hurt _her?

He stepped closer to Elena and looked into her eyes and she couldn't tear her eyes away. Was he trying to compel her? It wouldn't work, though. There had been vervain in the small amount of breakfast that she had managed to eat in her haste to get to the boarding house and in the glass of orange juice she had continuously sipped after she got back home.

His eyes still bore into hers and she thought that she was almost imaging that there was a slight growl in his voice. "Tell me the truth," he forced between his teeth.

Elena swallowed the lump that had lodged itself in her throat and exhaled, giving up on pretending when she couldn't fool him. "I never wanted this to happen." Her breathing increased and she just hoped that she wouldn't regret attempting to lie to him again.

"What, Elena?"

"We were told that whatever was going to be in that coffin was going to kill Klaus. When we found out that it was your mother…I…We didn't know what to think." She shook her head, her anxiety.

"Since her return she says she only wants this family whole again."

"When she asked to see me, I …I thought that maybe she could _help_. That she would find a way to kill Klaus. It's not just Klaus she wants to kill…" She was regretting telling Elijah this. She regretted being apart of this whole scheme in the first place. She regretted that she couldn't make anyone look at it from her perspective. She couldn't convince anyone that what was going to happen was unfair to some - particularly Elijah.

Realisation lighted up Elijah's dark eyes. He remained calm, as though he had expected Elena to tell him this. And Elijah being Elijah, he must have suspected _something _like this.

"She wants to kill us all, doesn't she?" He ground his teeth in frustration, scolding himself for not piecing the puzzle together sooner. He could have then prevented it - prevented Elena from giving her blood. But Finn could have then forced it from her anyway… she was almost defenceless, no matter how sneaky she could be with daggers.

"She wants to undo the evil she created," Elijah quoted Esther from the previous night. It pained Elena to hear sadness in his voice. It must be hard, she thought, to know that your mother believed you to be evil.

"I'm so sorry, Elijah," she whispered, afraid of speaking too loud, as if it would ruin the stillness in the air around them. "I wish there was something I could do to help."

She tried to catch his eye but his face was turned to the side and he seemed to be deep in thought. Then he lifted his head.

" You know, one thing I've learned in my time on this earth; be careful what you wish for." And then he looked at her pointedly.

He ground his teeth and made an imitation of snarling and Elena feared that he was going to strike her but then he lifted his leg, bent his knee and stomped on the flat of land just beneath him with his vampire strength.

The earth gave way beneath to reveal the cavern still partly hidden below.

Elena's scream was drowned out by the drone of the earth and rocks falling along with her.

12:34 p.m.

That morning Elena had woken up with the intention to apologise to Damon for what she had said the previous night. She hadn't meant to turn him down so roughly. She had even thought that at that point in their close friendship his words would have made her heart flutter. And they had, but not in the way that she would have liked to admit. And that, she realised, was why she wanted to apologise. For taking slight pleasure in knowing that two males were in love with her, no matter how much the other said he didn't feel anything. And she knew that Damon would know exactly what she was apologising for. He had that way of his for knowing things about her that sometimes even she didn't. But he had been too hurt to think about why she said what she had said then. He thought that it was enough to save Elena and sometimes his brother and then everyone else was collateral damage in his eyes. But Elena felt that she had to abstain from loving him the way he wanted her to so that she could keep the peace. Because it was as though she were the glue that kept everyone together.

But she couldn't help but wonder what life would be like if she wasn't there. She had plenty of time to think about it on her way over to Bonnie's. She could imagine Damon, going through women and their blood; Stefan trying to have a normal teenage life; Bonnie and Caroline back to how they used to be before all this supernatural stuff had changed them; Jeremy possibly still on drugs; and Jenna still managing school and home life. But she had lost Jenna and Jeremy.

She had brought them all together in a way. She had always been the main issue of concern since Mystic Falls became the Vampire Bed and Breakfast. So, if she happened to leave she liked to think that they would still look after each other, even if what tied them together was no longer there. But that, she realised, would have to be a last resort if Damon and Stefan had anything to say about it - which they most certainly did.

So instead of thinking any further about that plan she went into Bonnie's bedroom and told her everything about the dance and the following morning while her best friend practised the spell that Elena had told her Esther had used for privacy.

"Elena, it's Damon. You can't really expect much from him."

Elena sighed for the umpteenth time as she paced around Bonnie's bedroom, seemingly unable to sit herself down for too long. "I know he may have acted this way before but I thought that he'd gotten better. I just thought that he…"

"May have changed after proclaiming his unrequited love for you?" Caroline popped her head into the bedroom and looked amused. "Oh, by the way -this spell kind of sucks. I can still hear you from downstairs."

Bonnie had gotten all the ingredients that Elena had mentioned and nothing was missing so she was betting that Esther had way more voodoo power up her sleeves that she'd care to share with anyone.

"No! I don't think that he would have changed after telling me that he likes me. I just thought that after everything that's happened this past year… Especially with Stefan. I just thought that Damon had put those childish tricks aside when it came to the serious stuff." Elena was looking everywhere but at Caroline and Bonnie, who both had matching looks on their faces. They could see through her flimsy lie and weren't about to take anymore. "When Esther did it she kept it lit - there was a lot more smoke."

Bonnie sighed but didn't push the matter. "Okay, here goes nothing." She moved her arm around, letting the smoke from the sage waft around her. Both girls in the room turned their heads to look expectantly at Caroline.

"Fine," the blonde groaned, "but this is the last time! I want to talk about this in detail - listen carefully and have my input. I don't do well with standing and listening only." She huffed and closed the door as she left again.

"I guess what I'm saying is that I didn't expect him to get into bed with Rebekah of all people. Of all vampires!" Elena waved her arms over her head in exasperation.

Bonnie smiled tightly, still gently waving her arm around. "Damon must have a thing for evil chicks then - I mean, look at Katherine. He must have gotten it on with her when she came back."

Strangely enough, Elena believed that Damon precisely didn't 'get it on' with Katherine when she had made her return a few months ago. If he had she probably would have heard about it from Katherine herself.

"I just find it weird because he's doing practically everything he can to get rid of her family!"

"Damon obviously mixes business with pleasure." For once Elena found pleasure in hearing Bonnie take jabs at Damon, especially as she was currently frustrated with him. Bonnie obviously didn't mind when Elena came over to vent about the vampire.

"He was gloating. Like, standing there in front of me and gloating - like he was super proud of himself."

"Proud of himself from removing the stiffness out of Rebekah or proud of himself for making you jealous?" Bonnie looked up at Elena through her lashes, catching the exact moment that her words sunk in.

"Jealous? No! I told him the exact same thing that I am going to tell you now; I'm not jealous. I'm worried. I can't help but worry about him when he's like this."

Bonnie hummed and nodded her head, understanding how Elena felt. When she had found out that Jeremy wasn't fully loyal to her she had left him but she had never stopped caring about him. "It must be in a handbook or something; Salvatore Men 101: what to do after you've been romantically screwed over." She giggled gently at her own joke.

Elena's eyebrows came together, her eyes watching Bonnie carefully. "What do you mean, romantically screwed over? Is there something you know but aren't telling me?"

Bonnie heaved a great sigh and looked Elena straight in the eye. "Elena, you can't deny that Damon does this sort of thing every time _you _turn him down. Everyone's noticed it by now."

The door swung open again and Caroline came inside at vampire speed. She dropped herself down on a pillow next to the bed, fearful of sitting down near Bonnie and all the herbs and candles around her.

"Okay, first of all - this privacy spell is _totally _not working. Second, Elena you better spill what happened last night to make Damon sleep with Barbie Klaus. And don't try to lie your way out! I'll be able to tell." Caroline smiled proudly at herself.

Elena had wondered when this would come up. There was no use in trying to hide anything from her best friends. So, she stopped pacing around and plopped down on the floor and looked her friends in the eyes.

"He may have said something that took me back and I may have responded in a way he did not expect…" she said softly, still looking the two girls in the eyes.

"And this certain something may or may not have been…that he likes you?" Caroline arched her eyebrows and smirked. If Damon got any tough love from any females, she would feel like congratulating them for it.

As though her witchy instinct told her that there was more Bonnie didn't join Caroline in the high five that was sent her way. She continued to look at Elena, prompting her gently but firmly to go on.

"He… he said that he loves me." Elena said quietly. Bonnie had to strain to hear correctly without asking her friend to repeat. Caroline immediately jumped to her feet and stared at Elena with wide eyes.

"He what?" The blonde looked between the two girls, her mouth hanging open. "Damon, the vampire gigolo, said that he loves you?"

Elena wrung her wrists, trying to make herself feel at ease but failing. She was just as confused as Caroline seemed to be and she felt like putting all the blame for it on Damon. If he hadn't jumped the gun on those words she wouldn't have said anything, he wouldn't have slept with Rebekah and maybe things would look just a little more right in the world. As much as the world can look normal with supernatural beings everywhere.

Bonnie broke the silence. "What did you say after he told you?"

"I didn't even think. I just blurted out the first thing that came to my mind. And it was the stupidest thing I think I have ever said," Elena groaned.

"Stupidest thing, like you regret not saying the L word back, or stupidest thing, like you regret what happened afterwards?" After casting a suspicious glance at Elena, Caroline added, "I assume you didn't say the L word. I would think that Damon would be yelling from the rooftops if that had happened."

Elena rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless. "I didn't say that I loved him back. Instead I may as well have ripped out his intestines. I…said that maybe him loving me was the problem…"

She needn't have looked up to know her friends' expressions. Bonnie looked smug, happy that Damon got stung so badly, and Caroline wore an expressions in between proud and guilty.

"After what he's done to you and Stefan, I think he deserved that," Bonnie said, casting aside the sage she had held onto and blowing out the candles. She believed that Damon deserved any and every misfortune that came his way.

"He just made a few mistakes in the past - you can't always judge him by that!" Elena crossed her arms over her chest and frowned.

"Elena, you can't just ignore the facts! He had been selfish to jump out of the way of a bullet when he would have been able to heal from it much faster than Jeremy ever could have. He'd killed Ric for his own selfish reasons. He'd made Ric miserable for years after making him think that Isobel - your _mother _- had died. He selfishly put his life before that of Lexi's. He abused Caroline - drank from her, made her feel horrible, compelled her to do God knows what, and he may as well have _raped _her! There seem to be too many 'selfish's to count. Damon will always continue doing these kinds of things, that's how he lives, that's how he will always live." Bonnie ground her teeth together, frustrated that Elena chose to ignore simple facts sometimes. Damon had changed something in her when Stefan had left Mystic Falls, because when the brothers had first showed up she had showed her dislike towards the older brother almost proudly. But, of course, that had been when she was under the impression that Damon had taken Katherine away from Stefan.

Elena looked up sharply at Bonnie. She stood up and frowned at her best friend. "You're one to talk about that, Bonnie. Before you found out the extent of your power you were a superficial teenager who thought that her grams should be stuffed into a home. _You _changed. You are now one of the strongest people that I have ever met - but you used to be weak. You used to cry when a boy so much as didn't glance at you, or a girl looked at you the wrong way. So how can you judge Damon? He can change, too." Elena realised that she had held her breath and almost heaved in her next load of oxygen.

Bonnie and Caroline were now looking at Elena as if she had grown two heads in the last minute.

Elena realised that this was her queue to leave. She cleared her throat and stepped towards the door.

"I'm sorry," she said gently before closing the door behind her and walking to her car.

It looked like it would be her and the TV set for the rest of the day at this rate. Maybe, she thought, she could even crack her school books open and start studying - the supernatural world was not going to make her fall behind in her school work.

1:25 p.m.

Elena sighed and shut her history textbook. She had gotten home about half an hour ago and had decided to try and get her history essay over with. Now that seemed like a distant thought and all she felt like doing was curling up in bed and turning on the TV or writing an entry in her diary. But it seemed as though she was all out of thoughts on what to write about - she seemed to have almost every detail down about everything that had happened recently.

A knock from downstairs made Elena heave herself up from her desk and shuffle out of her room and down the stairs. She put her hand on the doorknob and twisted. Upon opening the door a smile appeared on her face. On the porch of her house stood Elijah, his usual expression worn on his face.

"Elena."

"Elijah," she breathed.

Elijah smiled tightly, and then stepped slightly closer towards the door.

"I was hoping that you would grace me with your presence. I wanted to visit the land where my family used to live once. If you are free from both Salvatore brothers…"

Elena felt a light blush creep up her neck and tinge her cheeks. Talking about the Salvatore men was not going to lead her anywhere good.

"Um, sure, I'm free. Let me just grab my phone."

And so she ran upstairs, made a grab for her phone which sat near her forgotten history textbook and ran back downstairs, putting her coat on in a swift motion. She exited her house, locked the door and saw that Elijah was already waiting by a brand new car.

"Are we going far?" Was all she thought to ask as Elijah opened the passenger door for her and ran back around to the driver's side. She wanted to ask why he was asking _her _to accompany him on his journey - he had all those siblings after all - but she couldn't bring herself to ask the question.

"Just someplace nearby. If there is a specific time you wish to return home at, just say so." Elijah, started the car and the car began to roll slowly away before he put more pressure on the gas pedal and they were flying down the street.

Elena sighed and relaxed back into her seat. "No, no, it's fine. I actually had nothing to do at home," _but study_.

Elijah turned to look at her, unafraid of the speed he was going at, and gave her his usual tight-lipped smile before returning his eyes on the road. It was as though to say, _oh, well, it wouldn't matter anyway_.

2:19 p.m.

Elena kept her eyes shut as the smoke cleared. She kept her hand at her face, hoping to escape inhaling too much of the dust all around her that the avalanche had caused. She couldn't remember how long the fall had been but her body ached, a painful reminder that it wasn't an easy landing - far from it.

It appeared that a rock - one of the bigger ones - had fallen and caught her foot. It now lay wedged between two rocks, her ankle at an awkward angle.

As the dust cleared Elena opened her eyes and squinted. There was little light coming through from overhead and she could barely make out any shapes. Just blurry shapes. For a while she worried that maybe her sight was fading in and out, that she was losing consciousness, that she would pass out in this underground cave and never wake up. But how many times had she felt that same feeling before?

A rustle of clothing caught her attention and she stilled so that she could hear better. But there was no more sounds. Not even the tiny scampering mice or rats could be heard.

As Elena breathed a sigh of relief, as though she thought she was safe, the clearing of a throat made a scream lodge itself in her throat, catching her between gasping for air and projecting her voice in a shrill cry. For a second she found it hard to swallow and blink without letting tears run down her cheeks.

"Apologies for this inconvenience, but I had to take matters into my own hands." Elijah's voice filled the cavern, echoing slightly as he chuckled humourlessly.

"Why are you doing this?" Elena's voice came out hoarse, anxious. She couldn't picture a time when she had felt safe around Elijah, sure that he would not harm her or put her in harm's way. Now she felt like backing up to a wall and trembling in fear for what awaited her.

"This is what you may call my bargaining chip. I will need it if I am to persuade your Salvatore henchmen to put a nip in the bud of this plan my mother has concocted."

Elena tried to focus her vision, hoping to see something a bit more clearly. A rough shape of human form stood some steps away from her, close enough to reach out and touch her. She edged backwards, using her hands - dirty and cut - to push her body back.

As she pushed away from more force her foot got hooked between the two rocks, and she felt a painful tugging from her ankle, as though her bones were being pulled apart. A groan escaped her lips and her eyes became blurry again, tears stinging the backs of her eyes.

"Elijah, please, you can't do this," she moaned, her voice still raspy and now a whine rearing it's head.

"Why? Because it does not suit you? Well, Elena, I regret to say this but it seems as though this is your fault. I do believe that my mother never forced your blood out from you… And you never told me at the party, never gave me a shred of crucial information."

"I'm _sorry_!" Elena squeezed her eyes shut and cried. The throbbing in her ankle increased as she shuffled, causing more pain to run up the rest of her leg. "I never meant for this to happen! I tried to undo this but I can't do anything about it anymore!"

"Well, think of it this way: you have made bargains before to save the lives of your family and friends, made a bargaining chip out of your own life. So I believe that you are accustomed with this great need to protect the people you care about."

"Elijah! _How _can you protect your family when no one looks out for anyone else in it but themselves? You _wanted _Klaus dead!" She tried reasoning. Her foot began to grow numb, squeezed too tightly by the large rocks. Her groans began to reside but she couldn't stop the stinging in her eyes.

"We must forgive past mistakes. You always forgive everyone, just look at Damon for an example. No matter what they have done, this is the reason why I have tried to hunt Klaus down for so long. I wanted to gather our family, so that we could try to trust each other again."

"But why do you have to hurt me to keep your family safe? Do you think by doing this you'll stop your mother from killing you all? She doesn't care about me."

"Oh, dear Elena, I have no notion to harm you. The fall was just a little accident that I may or may not have let happen as a slight punishment for your deceiving me. As for my mother; I know she doesn't need you anymore. But the Salvatores and the rest of your friends wouldn't want you dead. So they will just have to do a little job for me and if they do as they are told, you'll be back at home, as safe as you were before."

"Klaus wouldn't allow you to kill me." Elena's tears fell down her face, into her mouth so that she could taste the saltiness of them. Another taste, a bitter one told her that she must have bitten her lip or tongue. She coughed, feeling like her lungs were being clawed out of her, and she could just make out a few dark patches on the floor. The rest of the blood dribbled down her chin as she continued to moan and cry.

"Klaus also doesn't want to die. It's a hard bargain for him, I presume, but if the choice would have to be made, he would choose his life. I believe he has enough bags of your blood stored away to last him a while," Elijah chuckled, taking a few steps towards Elena again.

"Elijah…please. I thought we had… an understanding… ."

"And we do. I sincerely understand what it is like to have your family threatened, and the feeling that you seem to not be able of letting go; the feeling that you have to protect them at all costs. That is why I am giving the Salvatores a chance to save you and in turn your other friends."

Elena coughed again, heaving and begging for the pain to go away. The pain in her ankle throbbed and she felt like it was being torn off. "Please.." she sobbed, dragging her fingers down her face in agony. Pain in her shoulder began to register from her fall and she knew that somewhere she was bleeding.

"You ask my of mercy now. This could all have been avoided had you trusted me. And I had been a fool in thinking that you actually trusted me by now. After all, I had saved your life countless times. And those of your friends. This is quite the poor return of favour."

"Elijah, just…please…let me go…I beg you!"

A brief _whoosh _and a loud crack. Elena tried to wipe away her tears, accidentally spreading the dirt of her hands around and in her eyes. She squeezed them shut and tried to open them again. A hand roughly grabbed her sweaty face and tucked it upwards.

"Be quiet already with this moaning. Your. Own. Fault. Have I not told you enough times? For once, Elena, I will have to go to dangerous extremes to have this problem that you've caused fixed. And now you cannot bargain with your own life. But don't worry, I have no doubts that the Salvatores won't rescue you."

There was a rustling sound and then Elijah let go of her face, and let her whimper in pain. He could hear the chattering of her teeth, the quick beating of her heart, her blood rushing through her blood, slowly clotting the cuts. He could smell the freshly spilled blood. It was seeping out of her back, by her shoulder blade, but it didn't demand urgent care. She would still live until the evening.

"Now, I have to take my leave, to see to it that the Salvatores carry out my orders. In the mean time, I thought it a wonderful idea for you to spend some quality "girl-time" with none other than my dear sister."

More rustling of clothing material and Elena made out the faint sound of slow footsteps.

"My, my, how the mighty have fallen. Hello there, Elena," Rebekah stepped out from behind Elijah and smirked, a dangerous glint in her eyes.

_Wow, this was uncharacteristically long…I hope you enjoyed it!_


	2. Chapter 2

_This is definitely late but -Was the season 3 finale not the most beautiful episode ever made? I will go on for a long time believing that it is. It was so raw and emotional and made me bawl like a baby. I just couldn't hold it in. I definitely cannot wait for season 4 - it's going to be incredible. Every season finale just keeps getting better and better! And the songs! I think that the songs add so much to the show. Ah! I'll have to stop there lest I feel like rambling on and on about everything great about this show…-dreamy eyed-_

_On with the chapter!_

* * *

Damon stared at his phone, willing Stefan to call him. He hadn't seen his younger brother since he'd asked him to have a celebratory drink with him that morning and he was hoping to hear about some improvement on the big plan.

His phone buzzed, answering his demands, but when he looked down at the caller ID he saw that it was Alaric instead, probably calling to ask about Elena.

"Hello, hello! Having Elena trouble?" He took a swig of his bourbon, savouring the taste slowly, swishing from side to side in his mouth.

Ric sighed on the other end of the call. "Yes, and don't say 'as usual!'. She left late this morning in someone else's car - or she walked - because her car was still in the driveway when I left a while ago. You wouldn't happen to know, by any chance, where she might be?"

"No idea whatsoever."

"Oh, right, sorry. I forgot that you've been too busy with the _Original sex _to apparently do much else."

"She told _you_?" Damon barked and furrowed his brow in disbelief.

"Of course she told _me_!" Alaric sounded indignant. There was a clinking of glass on the other end of the phone call and Damon guessed that Ric was at the Grill, drinking.

"No offence, but you're like her dad - no chick ever tells her dad things like that. That's what their best girlfriends are there for apparently." Speaking of… Maybe he should pay a visit to Bonnie and Caroline - two girls that _absolutely _adored him.

"I'm her guardian, she's _supposed _to confide in me!"

"_Not_, about boy trouble, Ric," Damon sighed.

"Hey, it's not as though she was asking me for any advice. She just stormed into the kitchen and after I asked what got her into a bad mood she told me." On the other side Alaric shrugged and took a swig of his drink.

"You say she 'stormed' in? Like, she was jealous or …something?"

"Damon, right now is not the time to ask me if Elena is really into you or not. If you haven't noticed, her phone's turned off. I always tell her to keep it on just in case there's an emergency."

"Maybe she's super mad at me! Maybe she having a special girly feast with Witchy and Blondie." Damon shrugged and lifted his glass to his lips again, gulping down the rest of his drink. "I'll call Elijah. Elena seems to have a _special _bond with that one. They could be taking a long walk along a lake, having a very serious conversation about the meaning of life and if they think hell is real." He rolled his eyes and set his glass down, ending the call.

"Now, Elena, where the hell are you?" he asked himself, staring around the sitting room before using his vampire speed to disappear from the room.

Alaric looked to his left, glancing into the beautiful brown eyes of Meredith Fell. He smiled apologetically.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to make sure Elena's safe. Damon hasn't heard from her either. It's weird. I get it if she's mad about something but she knows the rules; phone must _always _be on."

Meredith smiled back, kindly putting a hand on his arm. "It's okay for her to have a bit of a life. Just because you can't reach her doesn't mean she's in imminent danger. For all we know her battery could have died."

"It's just strange that she didn't tell me where she went. She knows that's the policy in the house, so that if anything goes wrong we always know where she is."

"As a child who was constantly smothered during her childhood, I speak from experience; Elena just probably wanted a breather. I mean, it's got to be crazy, what with all the vampires, witches, hybrids and evil Originals surrounding her. And to top it off, she's a teenager. She just needs space to take a deep breath. On top of all this supernatural drama, she has normal teenage drama."

"I wish that's all it was." Alaric sighed heavily and looked down at his hands. He felt like a failure when it came to Elena and Jeremy. He had vowed to himself that he would do whatever it took to take care of them, to make sure that Jenna would be proud of him. But this kept getting harder and harder to keep under control.

"She's probably at Bonnie's house, venting about Damon. She seemed pretty mad at him from what you said about her storming into the kitchen today. Elena doesn't seem like the type to storm anywhere unless her loved ones are in danger."

"That's just the thing. Even if this whole Original vampire thing was over and no longer a threat, Elena would still have Damon and Stefan all over her. I can see what it's doing to her. I can tell she can't choose between the two of them. And it hurts her, Meredith. She may look strong but I can see it - I know what it can be like, especially if she loses one of them. It's just too much for someone as young as her; it's unfair."

"Life is always unfair but maybe she won't have to lose them." Meredith quirked her head to the side, her curls bouncing slightly. "If they love her the way they say they do, they will stick around and still care about her, no matter which relationship she decides to pursue."

"And that's going to hurt her even more. If one of them stays she'll feel like she's rubbing it in their faces." Alaric waved his hand to alert the bartender and when the young man strolled over he ordered a whiskey and looked at Meredith.

"A beer, please," she spoke politely.

As the bartender left Meredith slid down her seat, closer to Alaric, raising her eyebrows. "Are you sure _you _haven't been having girly nights with Elena? You seem to know a _lot _about her problems…"

Alaric smiled and took a sip of his new drink. "Elena thinks she hides it well but I can tell that there's something wrong. I can tell what's truly bothering her. Call it parental intuition if you may."

Meredith laughed and sat up straighter. "Well I think it's time to take your mind off Elena and her boy trouble." Then in a more sober voice she added, "The results came in this morning."

It took a few seconds for Alaric to realise what she was talking about. Once he knew for certain that it was about the attack on him he set his drink down onto the counter and wondered if he'd had too much to drink to have _this _conversation. He'd much rather keep talking about Elena's boy trouble - anything to keep the light away from himself.

"Any leads?" He asked wearily, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his long, thin fingers.

Meredith took her queue to launch into all the details of the results. "It's strange but there's no telling who you were attacked by." She reached into her bag and retrieved a manilla folder with a couple of pages strewn about in it. "Your X-rays were inconclusive. Your knife wound was already semi healed. It's impossible - or just extremely difficult - to tell anything about whoever stabbed you. Short, tall, left-handed, _no _clue." She huffed at the lack of information - it frustrated her entirely too much.

"Do you maybe want to do the tests again? Maybe there's some scar or something - I never checked - that can tell you something, anything."

"These tests were thorough and I'd already checked for scarring tissue. Nothing. We have no leads whatsoever."

"Except one." Alaric took a large gulp of his whiskey and let his eyes trail over to the new figures stepping into the Grill. Exactly who he'd been thinking about.

Meredith checked to see who he was looking at and glanced back at him, not entirely surprised. "A vampire?"

Klaus had stepped inside, alongside his brother, Kol. If there was anyone to blame, it was most likely Klaus and his family of Original vampires. Kol frowned at the two as both vampires came to stand at the bar next to the couple.

"Now, now, that's no way to welcome the new family to town. And I thought people were friendly here," Kol shot a look at Meredith, giving her a once over before ordering a drink. She shivered as his eyes glanced at hers.

"Let's not blame all the Originals just because we have a bad history," Klaus smirked. "Would it be terrible if my brother and I sat down for a drink here? I would rather hope that you don't think that we'll simply help ourselves to some random passer-by."

"What are you up to?" Ric put his drink down, none too gently and stared back at Klaus. He wanted to gloat in front of him, wanted to tell him what was in store for him according to what Elena had told him that morning about Esther's plans. But that would, of course, somehow manage to ruin their chances of finally getting rid of the Original vampires. He tried to keep his face devoid of emotion.

"Whatever do you mean? If you're worried about alcohol consumption; don't worry, we're of age," Klaus added with a chuckle as he took his glass of brandy when the bartender offered it to him.

"Ah, this 'legal age' deal. Who comes up with something so ridiculous. I remember when drinking and having a good time was legal for everyone." Kol took his glass and quickly downed his drink.

Meredith sighed and stuffed her manila folder back into her bag. She had hoped to have more time to discuss the attack on Alaric but it didn't seem like Klaus and his brother would be leaving any time soon. She shuddered then, when she felt Kol's arm brush her side as he placed his glass down and signalled for the bartender. She edged away, towards Alaric, but she caught his eyes following her fidgety movement. Blinking and averting her eyes didn't do much good as his arm seemed to brush past her side again.

Once the bartender came Kol smiled and leaned forward, staring straight into the young man's eyes.

"You can just leave that bottle here." The bartender's pupils dilated and he slowly nodded his head, not breaking eye contact with Kol. He placed the bottle of brandy on the counter and moved away to attend to another person.

"Don't get used to compelling people into doing everything you want them to do," Alaric said through gritted teeth. He hands were fisted and there was very little stopping him from punching Kol in the face. He tried to cool down when a couple of people looked their way but there wasn't much success.

"I'm sorry, but is that some kind of threat? Pathetic," Kol countered as he poured himself a full glass of brandy.

Klaus chuckled and he sipped at his drink. "You're in no position to make any threats, Ric."

"Don't call me that," Ric said at the same time as Meredith burst out with "Have someone to protect you from those threats, don't you?"

Klaus moved his eyes to Meredith, taking in for what seemed like the first time that evening. "Ah, so the young belle _can _speak. And here we were, thinking you were too shy." He chuckled again and continued to gaze at the brunette.

"I'll ask you again; what are you up to?"

"And I'll tell you again; simply having a drink with my dear brother. I don't think _that's _a crime, do you?"

"You have your family back - who you hid yourself - so why don't you just leave Mystic Falls already?"

"_Whom _I hid. Ugh," Klaus rolled his eyes comically, sharing a joke with his brother, before adding, "humans and their bad grammar. I believe this is the only compromise _you _people are willing to make. I need Elena's blood and everyone in your little posse seems adamant on never letting her out of their sight. And to be fair, if you haven't heard, we were here first."

"You can'-" Alaric began but Meredith interrupted him by putting her hand on his shoulder and applying a bit of pressure.

"Come on, Ric. Let's just go. We've spent enough time here as it is." She cast one more glance at the two Original next to them before standing up and slinging her bag over her shoulder. She gently pushed at Ric, willing him to move before he could become any more angrier.

The couple exited the Grill, talking quietly amongst themselves, as Kol kept a watchful eye on them. Just before stepping out into the cold evening air, Meredith glanced back and caught his eye. He smirked.

* * *

Caroline sat uneasily on Bonnie's bed with a carton of ice-cream in her hand. It had melted a while ago since it had been forgotten while the blonde tried to comfort her best friend. Caroline hadn't been sure of what to say to her witchy friend. Bonnie didn't look like she needed her help - but that was how Bonnie always looked. She was the strongest and most independent person that Caroline knew - apart from her own mother. And sometimes, Caroline became jealous of her, too. Bonnie hadn't fallen for Damon's good looks and charm and sometimes she could be tough on Stefan as well. She was all business, with little to no attachments to the vampire brothers.

There was little to say to Bonnie. Caroline knew how to comfort people who just cried about all their problems - that was easy for her. But she was never sure around people who remained silent and stoic - it was like she was in a mine field, afraid she was going to step in the wrong direction.

"You can still talk, you know," Bonnie said, shifting slightly before making to remove all the candles from around her.

Caroline squeezed her eyes shut before opening her mouth and letting everything spill. "I'm so sorry, Bonnie. I didn't want that to happen, you don't deserve to hear that - especially after everything that you've done for all of us. I mean, if it wasn't for you I wouldn't be able to walk in the sun, and Elena could be, well… dead. All of us could be, with the risks we always take."

"When I said you could talk, I meant at a normal pace," Bonnie smiled slightly, still not looking at Caroline. Caroline took that to mean one thing; Bonnie wasn't quite as strong as she had thought and was trying to hide some of her tears.

"Sorry. I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologise. Especially about what Elena said."

"But you didn't deserve that. I mean, Elena's been sticking up for Damon too much now - you're her friend, she can't just say stuff like that to you."

Bonnie smiled sadly before letting her eyes drift up to meet Caroline's. "But it's true."

"What?" She stared at Bonnie, confused. Bonnie wasn't usually one to let people tell her who she was.

"What Elena said is true. Before everything - before _all _of this - I was just some stuck up teenage girl who had nothing better to do with her time than be a snob. I can still remember running to your house in tears after Greg Alistair had stood me up at the Grill."

"But I was like that, too. So was Elena. But that's what teenage girls are supposed to do. We're supposed to waste out time by bragging about all the guys who like us and by dishing all the girls we don't like. That's teenage life!"

Bonnie wiped her eyes with her sleeve, smiling at Caroline again. She wasn't truly helping, just making them both feel more than a bit nostalgic for the good old times when they were all cheerleaders having a blast.

"I don't get why I'm so judgmental sometimes. I mean, if you think about it, Damon did much worse things to you. Sure he tried to kill me but that would have been over with in a flash. He abused you for months. So how come I hate him even more than you do?" Bonnie's voice cracked a bit.

Caroline brought her arms around her friend, pulling her closer to her. "First of all, you have absolutely no idea how much I hated Damon for what he did to me. I just don't as much any more, I guess. I'm grateful that he gave me his blood after the accident - even if it was just to please Elena. I guess he owed me and he gives me something in return, little by little. I know you probably think it's not enough but if I've come to terms with what he did then maybe you should as well."

"I just can't do it. It's not that easy. Every fibre of my being screams for me to kill him with my magic."

"Bonnie -" Caroline gaped at the other girl, looking alarmed that her friend had gone so far to actually want to _kill _someone.

"I know Caroline," Bonnie sighed, "but you have to understand that this is feeling, it's.. instinctive. I can't do much about it. I can try, really hard, but it's still hard for me. At first I thought it was because he tried to kill me. I was scared of him but I also wanted him to feel pain. But it's more than that. I hate him because he's a vampire." Unaware of what kind of effect this may have on her best friend, Bonnie rolled her eyes and flopped down onto her pillows, burying her face in them.

"Right. That's fair… I guess." Caroline looked wearily at Bonnie, wondering if her hate extended to her. But, she tried to reason with herself, then Bonnie wouldn't invite her over. She would never have invited her into her house in the first place if she wasn't okay with Caroline and what she was.

"You know," Bonnie spoke up, her voice muffled but not hard to pick up for Caroline, "I'm glad Damon slept with Rebekah. One, it shows Elena that she can't trust him not to stick his fingers in a few pies. Imagine trying to have a relationship with that kind of guy. And two, maybe he'll get Rebekah to fall for him - it doesn't seem to be so hard - and that way he could get a bit of information out of her." She removed her pillow from her face and looked at Caroline, a sparkle in her eyes.

"I don't know, Bonnie," Caroline spoke softly, slowly, thinking over Bonnie's idea. It wasn't the worst idea - and it certainly worked from time to time, no matter how old it got - but she didn't think that Rebekah would fall for something like that. "I mean, Rebekah isn't exactly stupid. She'd find out what Damon's up to in a second and she'd rip him to shreds."

Bonnie snorted. "Good. One less bad vamp around here."

Caroline glanced at Bonnie from the corner of her eye, not understanding how she had changed so dramatically over such a short amount of time. Sure, her grandmother had died but not because of Damon exactly. This anger didn't even seem to belong to Bonnie.

"Bonnie, you do know that Damon's on our side, right?" She asked, hoping to set the record straight. Damon was a good guy in the end - he was trying to protect Elena and those she cared about.

"Are _you _sure about that, Caroline? Heck, if it means he can protect Elena, he'd be willing to strike up a deal with the enemy. That's Damon. He only cares about Elena." Bonnie gave Caroline a meaningful look.

"If this is about Elena…"

"Don't you see, Care? Everything is about Elena," Bonnie shook her head, looking away from her friend.

"Bonnie, she can't help it!"

"I know that, Caroline," Bonnie cried, exasperated. "But sometimes it's just too much. I think that she should just leave both Damon and Stefan. Her life would be normal then. Or, more normal than it is right now. All the trouble started up when they came here - when Damon decided to open the tomb to get Katherine out. After all those vampires got out, the word was spread that Elena was a doppelgänger. And it just keeps coming and coming. Stefan might be aware that there are other people besides Elena who need to be protected, but Damon doesn't care. Elena is his top priority."

Before Caroline could reply there was a _tapping _sound on Bonnie's window. Both girls looked at each other, startled by the sudden noise. Caroline quickly stood up, as Bonnie prepared to hit someone with her magic.

The window slid open and Caroline picked up the distinct scent of Damon Salvatore.

She rolled her eyes and stepped towards the window. "What do you want, Damon?"

"Talking about me again, girls?" Damon's face appeared outside of the window, smirking at them both. "There's plenty to go around."

"No thanks. I've had you before and I just wasn't satisfied," Caroline crossed her arms, and smirked back at the older vampire as he scoffed.

"Ouch - you've got to stop hurting me like that, Blondie."

"Damon - what do you want?" Bonnie appeared next to Caroline, her hands at the ready to direct her magic towards him.

Damon held up one hand in defence while he held himself to the wall of the house. He'd been lucky when he found that Bonnie's bedroom faced their back yard rather than the street.

"Calm down, Judgy. I'm just here to ask if you two have seen Elena."

Bonnie took her turn to cross her arms across her chest, glaring at Damon. "Why?"

"I just need to know." Caroline could hear the undertones in his voice, the soft growling that was emitted deep from his throat. She sighed, hoping that she wouldn't have to push the two apart if they decided to fight. She didn't feel like suffering under Bonnie's wrath while trying to distract her from attacking Damon with her powers.

She sighed and looked at Damon, inspecting his face. "We last saw her more than half an hour ago. Maybe an hour - we didn't keep much track of time. But, seriously, why?"

"Mind letting me in first? I mean, what will the neighbours think about this?"

Bonnie snorted. "Let them think whatever they want. You can compel them later to forget they ever saw you. We all know you're capable of it. There's no way that I'm inviting you into my house. I hope you didn't think it'd be so easy."

Damon clenched his jaw as he glared at Bonnie. She was like a constant thorn in his ass. He had to beg for her help and resort to striking deals by saying it's for Elena. That's all they had in common, really - Elena and her safety.

"Fine. How about coming outside to talk then? I'd rather not hang from the side of a house while talking about this."

"No, talk from up here. I don't have a problem with it." Bonnie replied coolly. She certainly didn't mind making the older Salvatore brother uncomfortable.

"Judgy, don't mess with me right no -"

"Guys, stop it! We've got other problems to deal with so stop this stupid arguing." Caroline threw her hands in the air, annoyed by the two of them. "_I'll_ go outside and talk to Damon - it's not a problem for me." Without looking at her friend Caroline stormed out of the room as Damon smirked and raised his eyebrows at Bonnie.

"Ooh, doesn't look like she's happy with you right now," and with that he let go of the ledge he had held onto and let his body fall before landing gracefully, finding Caroline already waiting for him to start talking.

"Well, let's start with why you're looking for Elena. It's not like it's usually hard for you to find her."

"But at the mean time it is. Ric said that she came home - after she came to see me, I gather -"

"Oh, after she found out that you were whoring around with a certain blonde?"

"Jealous?"

"Please - I've had enough of you to last me my whole lifetime. But let's forget about that and keep going," Caroline cast a glance upwards, checking to see if Bonnie was looking out the window. They were speaking in quiet enough tones but Caroline didn't want to risk Bonnie hearing them and their friendly (-ish) banter.

"Right. Well, Elena arrived home, ranted a bit about me - she just can't get enough of me - and then Ric said she left. She either went for a long walk or she left in someone else's car because her one's still in the driveway."

"Why don't you just call her on her phone? It's this fantastic device that let's you communicate with other people from a distance," Caroline chuckled gently, putting her hands on her hips in a condescending way. She loved to mock Damon any time she could get away with it.

Damon rolled his eyes and gave the blonde a bemused look. "Why do you think I'm here? Elena's not picking up - can't reach her at all."

At this Caroline sobered up but tried to think up of other solutions to this problem. "Maybe her battery just died. Maybe she dropped her phone accidentally and it's busted?" Even though these were valid points Caroline couldn't rid herself of a feeling of nausea. Please, she begged, don't let Elena be in trouble.

"Blondie - is anything ever that simple for us?"

Caroline nodded slowly, understanding the annoyance that was creeping into Damon's voice. Nothing was ever simple with them - everything was spelled trouble for them.

"So what do we do? Where have you looked for her so far?" The young blonde entered her serious zone - this was bad. If Elena wasn't picking up her phone - especially when she knew that it was crucial someone could reach her at any given time - they needed to find her immediately. She had given up and agreed to answer their every call, no matter how inconvenient. Given their record with bad luck and trouble it wasn't too much to ask for.

"Well, I stopped by the house after Ric called and told me he couldn't reach her. I tried her phone after that - no luck. I went to the Grill but she wasn't there."

"Could she have gone to the forest to practise? I mean, she's gotten really into it."

Damon nodded and looked around. "I'll look around there. But before I leave, did Elena tell you about Esther's plan?"

This caught Caroline's attention. "Plan? What plan?" Her brow creased in confusion. It wasn't like Elena to leave news out of her updates. Especially if it was important enough that Damon was telling her himself.

"I guess she was too busy ranting about me and my whore-ish ways to tell you about something that we can look forward to."

"Wait - is this about something she talked about last night with Esther at the party? She was going to tell us, I guess. She told us about the privacy spell Esther had cast. She wanted Bonnie to try it out - it didn't work." Caroline wasn't sure why she felt the need to tell Damon the results but she wasn't always good with thinking before speaking.

"Well, we're in luck. Esther, despite her whole speech about wanting her whole family together again because she loves them, is planning to kill them all."

Caroline's eyes bulged as this news seeped in. "How would she do that?"

"She isn't the original witch for nothing, Blondie," Damon smirked and quirked his head to the side. And there he was, being condescending to her, like usual.

"But, wait. Kill every single one of them? Absolutely all of them?"

"That's what Elena said this morning. Esther had mentioned something to her about them all being monsters and that she had to undo her mistake of creating them in the first place."

"How can she just do that?" Caroline asked, grief evident in her voice. Damon cast her a weary look before stepping closer.

"You're not happy. Why are you not happy? They're all going bye-bye." Looking more closely at the blonde a wild idea ran through the male's head. "You're - You're not, like, _into _Klaus, are you? Because I can tell you right now, Blondie, it ain't ever gonna happen."

"Why would you ask me that?" Caroline sounded panicked, looking at Damon sharply.

"Well I did see you dancing with Klaus last night - that's a bit of a giveaway I suppose."

"Look, I shared one dance with him, okay? It's not that big of a deal. Not for me anyway. I'm just not so certain about this plan."

"Why the hell not?" Damon's eyebrows furrowed as he stared Caroline down as she fidgeted with her hands.

Caroline looked around, slowly, before facing Damon again. "Isn't it a bad idea? I mean, how can Esther be willing to do this? She's… - they're her children. I don't think a mother would be able to do that to her own children. Especially not after what she did to make sure that nothing could hurt them after one of them died."

"I guess she lost the maternal instinct after she 'died'," Damon chuckled, not seeing how this worried Caroline, who was thinking of her own mother and what she could have done on many occasions.

"I know that they're monsters but… how can she do this?" Caroline stressed, waving her hands around. This whole plan made her think of her own parents. They couldn't stand the thought of their baby girl being a vampire so they almost killed her - thinking it would be for the best. But how could someone look their child in the eye and consciously make the decision to kill them?

Damon seemed to catch on to what Caroline was implying. He sighed and looked away, not sure how to tell her how it went in the real world. Not everyone was lucky enough to have parents like hers who weren't willing to do what was apparently the right thing to do - the ones who loved their children more than they believed they were evil creatures that should rot in hell.

"Look, Caroline, it's not always simple. But at least Esther understand that they need to go. Don't be stubborn like Elena."

Caroline sniffed softly. "What does Elena think about all this then?"

"Well, at first I'm guessing she was totally fine with it because she had to give her blood to Esther. Then, she remembered that her poor Elijah would have to die as well so now she feels guilty and doesn't want Esther to finish the ritual."

"She can't be for real!" Even Caroline, despite her worries about the whole killing-her-very-own-children part, wasn't going to try and stop it. If it meant Klaus and the rest would be gone… her life could be back to normal (as much as normal applied to her nowadays).

"Oh, yes, she's _for real_. And that is why I need to find her. She needs to stay somewhere where she won't cause problems. I'm just hoping that none of the Originals find out about this plan - otherwise it may be harder to complete."

"We better split up and look for her. You look through the woods then and I'll check out any spot she usually visits. Keep me in the loop though," Caroline nodded at Damon and prepared to go back inside to tell Bonnie about the new course of action. She didn't anticipate Damon taking hold of her arm and stepping closer, invading her personal space.

Caroline inched back subconsciously, unsure of what Damon was up to. He looked her in the eye, as if searching for something.

"Be careful."

Caroline almost reeled back, surprised. Damon never - rarely, if ever - said things like that. Not to her anyway. To Elena, definitely, but not to her. He didn't care about her enough to say something so sentimental.

But, of course, Damon wouldn't let her think that would be showing some affection towards the blonde. "I meant about Bonnie. I overheard your conversation with her -"

"Hey! Don't listen in on people's private conversations!"

" -and if you haven't already gathered Bonnie is willing to do whatever it takes to remove all vampires from Elena's life."

"If you trying to imply that Bonnie would be willing to get rid of me…"

"Don't you see, Caroline? She is. She doesn't like our kind. If she gets a chance to kill us all, she will grab it. She won't blink twice. That's how witches are."

Before Caroline could comment any further on the small subject Damon let go of her and disappeared from her sight. She sighed, her shoulders feeling like they were carrying a heavy weight, and looked up at Bonnie's window.

She already knew that Bonnie would be willing to get rid of every single one of them if it meant no vampires around Elena - or in the whole of Mystic Falls. She just wasn't sure of what exactly she could do about that except acknowledge the fact.

* * *

_A/N: This chapter was supposed to be longer originally but I had to cut it in half because otherwise it would have been too long - though I'm sure that wouldn't have been a problem for all you readers! Sorry there wasn't any Elena or Elijah scenes in this chapter but just wait until the next one.__  
_

_I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Review - it took quite a while to write this chapter but it'll only take a few minutes to type up a review!_


	3. Chapter 3

Bonnie huffed, annoyed that Elena hadn't filled them in on Esther's plan to kill off all the Originals. Had she gotten carried away while defending Damon or had she just planned to keep them out of the loop about it. One way or another, Bonnie was not happy at the moment with Elena.

"Okay, I think that's everything," Caroline said, dusting off her shirt though it was perfectly clean. "I'm just going to help Damon look for her."

"I could just do a locator spell," Bonnie said, though she didn't feel like using up her energy on a locator spell. Plus, it would have been easier had Jeremy been there to give a bit of his blood.

"But won't that just give us the general location? We need a more exact location."

"That spell may take more time and requires a stronger connection - meaning I'd need Jeremy here."

"Then I guess it's just up to Damon and me." Caroline sighed and threw on her jacket, ready to leave.

"What else did Damon say to you?"

This caused Caroline to stop and retreat a few steps. "What do you mean?"

"I have this distinct feeling that Damon told you more and it's something you obviously don't want to tell me about," Bonnie crossed her arms over her chest, taking a slow step towards Caroline. There wasn't any distinct feeling in her gut - she could just see it in the way Caroline refused to look her in the eye.

"That's not true!" Caroline looked like a deer caught in headlights, her eyes wide with fear.

"It isn't?" The witch raised her eyebrows. She knew how to crack Caroline and it didn't take long.

"I'm not, not telling you something! Okay? Can I just go already? Wait, why am I even asking you?" and with that Caroline flitted out of Bonnie's bedroom, leaving a few sheets on her table to rustle.

It seemed Damon was right about something for once - Caroline didn't seem to be happy with Bonnie.

* * *

"Why are you doing this?"

"God, I thought Elijah already explained all the boring stuff to you," Rebekah sighed for the umpteenth time, flipping though a magazine that she had thought to bring with her. Elena had sighed in relief because it meant that she wouldn't take all her time to torment her.

"Can't you just talk to your mother? I mean, what can really happen while I'm held hostage?" Elena tried to reason with the vampire.

Another sigh of annoyance.

"Why do something yourself when others can do it for you? Elijah is currently out, waiting to catch either one of your boyfriends to tell them where you are and what we want from them. And it's going to be easy to get them to co-operate - I mean, we have you to bargain with. If that doesn't get their gears running then I don't know what will," Rebekah flipped to the next page, admiring a silver dress laden on a very skinny model.

Elena tried to swallow the lump in her throat. It was no good arguing with Rebekah. There was no way of getting out of this situation until Damon and Stefan did what Elijah wanted of them. Elena just feared the choice they were going to be given.

"But what can Damon and Stefan do anyway? They can't take on your mother," Elena tried to sit up but it hurt to move with her ankle in such a state. The pain throbbed up her leg and she winced, squeezing her eyes shut and biting her lip.

"Elijah will tell them what to do. And all you have to hope for is that they will - otherwise I get to kill you. Now, how much fun do you think I'll have with that?"

"Rebekah, please don't do it. You have nothing to gain from it!" Elena said, pleading with the blonde vampire even though it seemed fruitless.

"Nothing? Really? Still, I'm dying to kill you after you stabbed me," Rebekah put down her magazine and looked at Elena. It wasn't hard to tell that she was etching to kill Elena ever since the dagger had been taken out of her. She had felt mad at herself for thinking that Elena would actually want to listen to her story just to be nice. She had asked her about all the things that made her vulnerable and she had succeeded in literally stabbing her in the back.

She huffed and returned to reading her magazine, though Elena could see that her eyes didn't move along the page.

"Can I at least get a chance to talk to Elijah first?"

"I think you've had enough time talking to him. Don't be desperate, Elena," Rebekah said in a sing-song voice. "It's not like there's anything you can say to stop him."

"Please, just let me try!"

"Look, I don't get why everyone bends over backwards to save you constantly but know this - you can't fool me again. It may have worked once but not any more. You have no weapon capable of hazing me. And, seeing as I'm not a swine of a male, you can't use your cheap tricks on me - no doe eyes or pouty lips or sad story."

Elena blushed at the thought of selling herself in order to make deals with her enemies. Her anger flamed to life, a scowl etched onto her face. Never before had she been accused to using cheap tricks to fool anyone. Maybe she had done so back when she was younger to get into parties with Caroline and Bonnie but those days were long behind her.

"I would never do that. I'm honest and I honour my deals."

"Right, sure you do. I heard the story of how you stabbed Elijah after making a deal with him. You sure have a way with keeping your end of the bargain," Rebekah glanced at Elena from under her lashes, smiling lazily as she flipped to the next page.

"Sometimes deals just don't work out. I'm willing to stab an enemy in the back if it means my friends and family are safe."

"Well, then, you definitely better pray that Damon and Stefan come through because after I'm finished with you I might just move onto Matt. I mean, he's sweet and all but I don't feel like having your leftovers for anything more than a meal."

"Don't you dare hurt Matt!" Elena fisted her hands, her voice raspy. She would do whatever it took to make sure no one she cared about was hurt, even if it meant making a deal with Rebekah, who, it seemed, would be unlikely to strike one with her.

"No Matt for lunch? Fine, maybe that little witch will do. Or your brother. Don't kid yourself, Elena. You can't keep everyone safe when they all want to protect you - even if it means losing their lives."

Elena shut her eyes and tried to think for a moment. Wasn't there anything at all that she could do to fix this? She felt like she had to pay the price because she had given her blood to Esther. Was there any way to reverse that?

Suddenly her eyes popped open, alight with the usual fire that was encompassed in her brown orbs. She had an idea.

* * *

There weren't a lot of places that Elena was free to visit all by herself but once in a while the group decided to let her have her privacy outside of her bedroom. Sure, a lot of the time Stefan or Damon would follow Elena wherever she went but Caroline liked to think that she would at least get all the privacy she wanted when she went to pay a visit to her parents and aunt Jenna.

The graveyard was a bleak place and Caroline had barely ever been there other than to bury her grandfather a couple of years ago and her father only a few days ago. But the setting had never affected her as she thought it would Elena. For the brunette this place seemed to hold almost everyone she had held dear and that made Caroline sad and quiet. Elena had ultimately lost a lot more people than most people her age.

She had looked in every corner of the graveyard just in case Elena had decided to sit down there to mope after looking around her parents and Jenna's graves. She hadn't visited as much in the last few months while she was busy staying in the present, trying to find Stefan and bring his humanity back, and it showed; the flowers were decayed, a horrible shade of brown and yellow.

Caroline wrinkled her nose and decided that she would bring some new flowers as a caring act. She hadn't given much thought to Elena's parents after she had been turned but she remembered that they were amazing parents, even if Elena wasn't their actual child. They had been nice to her, too, always inviting her over for dinner along with her mom - hoping to give the sheriff a bit of a break from all her work.

The blonde smiled and vowed to herself that to repay them she would try her best to protect Elena.

* * *

Damon wasn't one for communicating with his enemies when it came down to it but when Elena was missing so long and he was out of options he felt like it was the only thing he could do. Of course, he could send Stefan to do it but recently his younger brother had been more stubborn and rebellious than usual, even deciding his own ideas would be much better when in fact they were monstrous compared to Damon's. So he decided that if he wanted anything done, he'd have to do it himself.

As he stepped inside the boarding house Damon picked up a scent that was slightly familiar. An expensive cologne he knew a certain Original wore.

"Well, don't just stand around, Damon," called the familiar voice. "Please, join me for a drink."

Damon stepped into the formal sitting room to find Elijah sipping on a glass of what seemed to be his bourbon.

"That's _my _bourbon!"

Elijah smirked as he took another sip from the tumbler. He savoured the taste of the alcohol before glancing at Damon and then at the other occupant in the room. Stefan sat in one of the armchairs with an empty glass.

"It's rude not to share, Damon. Though I'm sure the hostility comes from having shared a love interest with your brother," Elijah quipped. Before Damon could remark about the comment Elijah sat down and set his tumbler down firmly, a serious expression on his face.

Damon slowly edged forwards, glancing between his brother and the Original. "So what's this little visit about? I didn't get any memo…"

"Well, I had just arrived and was, in fact, hoping to catch both you and your brother here."

"Elijah has some important business he wants to discuss with us," Stefan finally spoke up, reclining in the armchair, seemingly not seeing Elijah as any threat.

"Oh, really," Damon strolled over to the small bar and poured himself a full glass of bourbon, grimacing when he found that the bottle was almost finished. He quickly turned back to face Elijah and addressed him again. "Pray tell, what's this important business about?"

"It's about Elena, of course," Elijah waved his hand in the air nonchalantly. This answer caught both Salvatore's attentions and they gazed curiously at Elijah. But, surely, they needn't have looked so shocked - everything they ever talked about now was Elena.

"If you want to take Elena to your crazy brother then I'm _really _sorry to burst your bubble. But she's staying right where she is." Damon raised his eyebrows, defying Elijah. He wasn't about to be walked all over by the vampire he had freed to have him help kill his Original brother.

Elijah chuckled. "Oh, I know she's not going _anywhere _right now."

"So what do you want?" Damon asked, confused as to what else Elijah could want. Did he have some plan to take down Klaus? Surely not, especially not after the big display of family unity at the ball. Unless, Damon thought cautiously, it was only a pretence.

"Damon -" Stefan was cut off before he could warn Damon to listen carefully to Elijah. The vampire may be all into honour but that didn't mean he wouldn't play around with words to get his way. He was very clever and didn't hide it.

"I presume that you've already found Elena to be gone."

"What?" Stefan looked at Elijah, surprised.

"Sorry, brother. I was going to fill you in," Damon looked over at Stefan, not in the least bit sorry, "but I got a little busy. Looking for Elena actually."

"Well, you won't find her." Elijah stood up and moved to pour himself a new glass of drink. He rifled through the bar and found a bottle of liquor to his taste, opening it quickly before pouring half a glass. "But there is, however, something you can do so that I can get her back for you."

"Did Klaus do this? Do you know where she is?" Stefan stood up, forgetting his calm façade. It was proving to be a bit harder to not show his emotions when Elena was in trouble. And if Klaus had her… Stefan didn't even want to think about the mess inside his head.

"Actually he doesn't."

"Then who? Was it Barbie Klaus? I totally got those jealous vibes from her on a few occasions," Damon clucked, rolling his eyes. He obviously wasn't as worried about this as his brother was.

"If you are referring to my sister, then no, Rebekah didn't do anything to her. She may be in close proximity to Elena but technically she didn't take her hostage."

"Hostage?" Damon set his tumbler down, confused by Elijah. Realisation dawned on his face when he saw Elijah smirking offhandedly.

"You took her." It wasn't a question but a statement. It left Stefan's lips before his thought process was even over.

"Yes, I did in fact."

"And you're admitting to this because…" Damon said, a frown etched into his face, a dangerous note to his voice.

"Like I said, she's being held hostage. And in order for her to return home safely I need the two of you to do a certain deed for me."

"And what may this certain deed be? If it's killing Klaus then let me tell you, we're not having a lot of luck in that department. Hence why we freed the whole Original family."

"No need to play ignorant, Damon. I know that you are aware of my mother's plan," Elijah sighed. From his stiff posture Damon could tell that he wasn't happy even though his expression was completely calm.

"What plan?" Stefan looked between Elijah and Damon. He'd been gone most of the day but it couldn't be that hard to pick on a phone and call him to tell him that there was an update to the Kill Klaus Plan.

"Looks like Mama Original wants to kill all her children," Damon looked away and smirked at Elijah.

"What? How come I never heard about this?"

Elijah took this as his cue to explain everything. "Last night, as you all know, my mother was anxious to speak with Elena in private. I had asked Elena to relay all the information to me when she would return. My mother then proceeded to tell Elena her plan to kill all her children - not just Klaus. Elena failed to inform me of this in time and only decided to tell me this morning - because of her guilty conscience."

"What the hell did you do with her?" Damon snarled, his brow furrowed. He felt his anger begin to slowly take control of him as he continued to stare down Elijah. If he found one hair on Elena's head missing there wouldn't be enough vampires and Originality to stop Damon from kicking Elijah into next week.

"Nothing, I assure you. I don't know what she may have done to herself, though, since I left. She may have tripped and sprained something…" Elijah had the two brothers exactly where he wanted them and could bend them against their wills. It was too easy.

"What do you want from us?" Stefan asked. "It's not like we have a problem with your mother killing all of you. God knows you've caused us enough problems," he shrugged.

"Let me say this; I am willing to harm Elena in order for you to motivate yourselves to get this task done. I want the threat of my mother destroyed."

"How do we know you're not bluffing? I mean, Elena could just be taking a long car ride to clear her head from all the trouble your family has stirred up." Stefan folded his arms across his chest, challenging Elijah.

Elijah smiled gently and looked down at his shoes, as though contemplating whether to say what was on his mind on or. In the end he decided it would be best to convince the two brothers that Elena was indeed in need of saving - yet again. He reached into his trouser pocket and took out his new phone. His thumb quickly ran over the screen and a plain ring tone soon followed.

He extended his arm and waved the phone between Damon and Stefan. "Go ahead, answer it," his tone mild.

The Salvatore brothers looked at each other cautiously before Damon stepped forward and plucked the phone from Elijah hand. His brows furrowed as he saw who was calling. Nonetheless he slid his thumb across the screen, answering the call before putting the phone up to his ear.

"Why, Rebekah, you didn't get enough of me last night?" He hoped to infuriate Elijah. After all, no brother was ever in the mood to hear about how their younger sisters get around with certain males they knew. But Elijah remained impassive, still looking at his shoes as though he was trying to clean away the invisible dirt with his eyes.

"Oh, Damon, save it for some other time. I got a request - you want to see Elena." Rebekah's voice seemed a bit distant and Damon understood that she was probably holding the phone between herself and Elena.

"Hand the phone over to her, Barbie," Damon almost growled. He hated it when people tried to use his own methods against him - he hated being inconvenienced this way.

"Everyone will hear everything anyway. So ask her whatever question you want to make sure she's here so we can be done with it." Rebekah rolled her eyes as she stared at Elena, who gulped at the stare down.

She knew Damon would just ask her if she was okay, where she was, and who exactly got her into that situation. It was all he cared about when it came down to someone kidnapping her and holding her hostage.

Damon's voice came through in a steady tone; "Elena."

He didn't sound worried or wearisome, just cold. When it came to Elena being kidnapped he went through a few stages before and after she was retrieved. First stage was almost killing the messenger, second stage was trying to find his brother in a worried frenzy, third stage was cooling off and getting into his dick mind set, fourth stage was actually getting Elena back, after which he would kill (or attempt to) whomever was unfortunate enough to be the kidnapper as the fifth stage, and finally, for the sixth stage he would just drink himself stupid.

Elena was used to it by now. She just hoped that he'd find a different way to deal with these kinds of situations.

"I'm here, Damon."

"And that would be where?" Damon cast his eyes at Elijah's figure, as he shook his head and chuckled.

"Now where would be the fun in that? Even if you find out you won't be able to get her out." A small warning hung in the air and Elijah's eyes dared Damon to step over the line and defy his orders.

Damon wasn't one for backing down, though. "We got past you twice - oh, no, wait, three times! What makes you so sure that your sister is going to be any match for us?" It was a sting to Elijah, but he knew that they only got away with it the last two times because of his deal with Elena.

"She'll kill Elena before either of you would be able to get a hand around her throat." Elijah replied smoothly.

"Klaus will kill you both then." Stefan supplied from the background.

"Stefan? Was that Stefan?" Elena's tone was that of despair. She remembered making her phone call to him this morning. Much like she had expected, he hadn't answered, preferring to ignore any and all communication with her. Even now, as he stood ten feet from Damon and Elijah, he remained silent in fear of getting Elena's hopes up.

"Well, as you can tell, Elena is perfectly alive. So far." Rebekah interrupted before Elena could call out to Stefan again.

"And to keep her that way I suggest you do exactly as I say. Elijah's eyes darted over to Stefan. He knew both brothers cared about the beautiful maiden but he needed at least one to commit to save her. He was surprised that Stefan had not yet attempted to snap his neck and everyone else's who stood in his path to rescuing Elena. "You'll need the help of your friend, Bonnie is it? That is, if you can get her to consider helping you."

He reached out and took his phone back from Damon's hand. The dark haired vampire eyed the phone as Elijah began to speak again. He ignored what Elijah had insinuated about the Bennett witch.

"Rebekah, I'll call you as soon as the Salvatore brothers have made progress. If you don't hear from me by ten o'clock tonight, you can go ahead and rip out Elena's heart."

On the other end of the line Elena was staring at the phone, transfixed by Elijah's words. Why were all the people around her doing this to her? First it was Stefan and his plan to kill her in order to make Klaus stop, and now it was Elijah. There was something darker about him, he wasn't the same as she remembered him to be.

_But he's also just trying to save his family - no matter how bad they are_.

"At least if they fail I'll still have enough time to kill you," Rebekah smirked as she hit the end call button and pocketed her phone.

"Why would you think that they wouldn't take the opportunity to wipe out your entire family, even at the expense of me."

"Exactly because of you. They all love you too much. I'm sure that even when Bonnie hears that you're being held hostage, she'll stop."

"Stop what?"

Rebekah glanced at Elena in amusement. "Why, stop helping my mother. Didn't she tell you that my mother approached her and asked for her help for the grand spell?"

By the shock registering itself on Elena's face, Rebekah guessed she hadn't let a word slip. She sure hoped that the brunette felt betrayed, just as she had been.

* * *

Damon put the used glasses back in their rightful places, not bothering to leave them in order to clean them later. He had too much on his mind.

"What's the plan?" Stefan stepped around an armchair and stopped in front of his brother. There was something different about him, Damon noticed. He wasn't as tense as he usually was when it came to formulating a plan to take someone down. It was the thing he hated, sitting down and figuring out how to bring about someone's death, even if it was to save Elena. It was his compassionate nature getting in the way.

"I don't know yet. The objective is to take down Esther." Damon turned away and looked for something else to fix.

"How can we do that? I'm guessing we'll need Bonnie fore that." Stefan made himself comfortable in a chair as he stared at Damon.

"How about we just leave the witch out of it, huh? She's probably not going to help at all."

Stefan looked between his brother and an invisible object, as if searching for the reason as to why his brother does anything. "Eh, last time I checked, Esther was an indestructible witch who could have us killed in five seconds. Our best options would be to call Bonnie, Damon."

Damon ignored his brother as he began to walk towards the stairs. "I'm calling Ric to let him in on our current _situation_." He said the last word in such a way as though to insinuate that it was Stefan's fault. As he ascended the stairs he reached into his pocket and brought out his phone.

Stefan huffed before taking out his own phone and dialing the first person he thought of.

* * *

Bonnie was on the road, heading to Denver. She had a hunch that maybe Elena had gone to visit Jeremy, even if it was to stare from afar. Maybe she had wanted to get away from all the madness and to just get a little sense of home again. Bonnie couldn't blame her if she had gone to see Jeremy. He had a calming effect on the people who loved him.

At the memory of the early morning Bonnie couldn't help but clench the steering wheel a bit tighter, the skin over her knuckle going white in colour. Esther had paid her and her mother a visit in the morning, so early that Bonnie had almost snapped at her when she swung the door open from the excessive ringing of the doorbell.

Esther had swooped in after Bonnie had nodded her head and as swiftly as possible explained her plan to the Bennett women. Bonnie had taken a few minutes to process it all but once she got the affirmed answer that all the originals would be wiped out from existence, Bonnie had agreed to help Esther. She had yet to feel any guilt.

_Why?_

Bonnie had always hated vampires - ever since she was a little girl she thought they were disgusting creatures. Nothing had gone far in swaying her idea, not even teenage sappy romance stories. So when she got acquainted with a few vampires and her world turned literally upside-down, her hatred for the vile monsters grew. Sometimes it was a surprise how she could be so happy to be friends with Stefan.

Speaking of which, her phone suddenly rang, blasting one of her favourite songs. She chanced a glance at her dashboard where she always kept her phone while driving, and saw that it was the very vampire calling her.

Knowing that Stefan Salvatore didn't usually just call up to ask her how she is or to invite her out - that had always been Elena's duty - she just grabbed her phone and pressed the answer button, ignoring the safety rules.

"What happened?"

Stefan sighed on the other side of the line. He knew how accustomed Bonnie had gotten over the past year to answering her phone only to hear that there was some dangerous creature on the prowl for them all. He just wished that she had never been thrown into the middle of this whole vampire thing, but he had to admit that without her they would all be dead by now. They probably wouldn't even have made it two months without her.

"We have a big problem in regards to Esther's plan. I know you know, Elijah told us."

"You and Damon, I'm guessing?" Bonnie made a turn at the appropriate time and continued driving at a moderate speed.

"Yeah. Well, he also told us that he has Elena as a hostage. If we don't do what he wants of us, Rebekah is under strict orders to kill her."

"What?" Bonnie swerved to her right and stopped the car once she hit the side dirt road. She listened intently to Stefan as he spoke.

"Elijah said that we have to take down Esther before she takes down Klaus and the other Originals."

"Stefan…" Bonnie sighed and wondered how she could explain to the green eyed vampire what exactly she had conspired to do with Esther. No words left her mouth as Stefan waited on the other line.

"Look, Bonnie, I get it. We have an opportunity to get rid of all of them but that means losing Elena as well. We can't let that happen." The old sense of love that Stefan had for Elena was received on Bonnie's end. She smiled sadly as she finally caught the glimpse of the old Stefan, so desperate to save the love of his life, even if it was only through the catch in his voice as he spoke of the brunette.

"Alright, I'll meet you at the boarding house. I might be a while, though. Get everyone else." She hung up before Stefan could reply and threw her phone onto the passenger seat. She made sure that the engine was still on before hitting the gas pedal and making a U-turn. And off she sped down the road, back to Mystic Falls.

* * *

_A/N:_

_Wow, this took a while to update. I'm sorry about that. I was really busy with homework and tests (and there are big ones on the way, unfortunately.) I thought that I should power through and finish this because of the New Year. HAPPY NEW YEAR, by the way. Ugh, may this year see to it that I update more frequently, while magically managing all my homework and exams. I have written more for this story...but it's scenes in the future chapters. I might start putting them as little sneak peeks at the end of new chapters. _

_Hope you enjoyed this chapter - more to come soon enough!_


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